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| When carrying your data becomes a necessity, and using web-based methods like server storage just aren't an option, you have two choices: flash drives, or portable hard drives, each with a number of possible security options, from password-protected encryptions to biometrics. Although solid-state drives are increasing in capacity and declining in price at a rate that will soon revolutionize the storage industry, if you've got a lot of data to tote, you're going to need a portable hard drive. With today's concerns about hackers and data thieves running rampant like characters out of a William Gibson story (not to mention government regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley), there's a good chance you'll need some sort of protection on that drive, so your company doesn't end up on the evening news as the latest victim of a data theft scandal. Today we'll be looking at Apricorn's Aegis Bio, a line of portable hard drives that attempts to meet all of these considerations. Let's see how it fares. | ||
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Features of Aegis Bio Apricorn put all of the features you'd want to see in a security-conscious hard drive in the Aegis Bio: Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection for faster file transfers, real-time 128-bit AES encryption that'll protect your data even if a thief disassembles the drive from its housing, UPEK TouchStrip Fingerprint Sensor with Oxford Controller Chip for biometric access without accessing the host computer's operating system, a 16-point omni-directional shock mounting system to protect the drive against drop damage, an alternating red and green LED system that tells you whether or not the drive is locked, and a light 5.5 ounce total weight. Inside the housing is a 2.5" Fujitsu MWH2120BH 120GB hard drive, with an operating speed of 5400 rpm and an 8MB cache. The drive includes a built-in USB cable, but the five inch length is not particularly practical when working with desktops. The Aegis Bio also comes with a software disc for adding and removing fingerprints to the drive's password bank, along with a link to download SyncToy, a free power toy for Windows that drive synchronization and backups.  The Apricorn Aegis Bio has a simple look: blue plastic case, lock LED, fingerprint scanner, and 5 inch connection cable. A pair of feet on the bottom of the drive also helps prevent slippage. After you've completed the software installation, you'll need to run the Protector Suite Token program to enable the drive's biometric security. Protector Suite Token is a Windows-only program, which means that you'll need to setup the drive on a Windows machine before you can use it with a Mac, a feature that Apricorn does not make clear from the box or in the instructions. To get started, you'll need to plug in the drive to the nearest USB port; if the port doesn't provide enough power, you'll need to use the included Y cable and a second USB port to complete the connection.  A USB Y Cable for those computers with lower powered USB connections.  Fingerprint enrollment is a matter of three swipes and a dialog box.  When your computer has USB ports in the back, the short cable becomes a real disadvantage. Remembering passwords is a pain; writing them down or even saving them to cookies is dangerous and - if you're required to observe certain levels of security - possibly even illegal. Apricorn takes this problem into account with an interesting solution: save the passwords to a bank that's accessible only by a fingerprint swipe to the Aegis Bio's sensor and list them in one section of the Protector Suite Token. The registration process, which works with Internet Explorer (versions 5.5 and up) and Firefox (versions 1.0 and up), requires you to fill in your username and password in the webpage's dialog box, then press a shortcut key combination of your choice - the default is Ctrl + Alt + Home. Doing so opens up a finger swipe dialog in Protector Suite Token; pass that security challenge and the program will save the URL of the site and your login information to the password bank. To access the saved page, select it from the list of registered sites in Protector Suite Token, and then swipe your finger; the program will load the site in your default browser. By default, the program submits the form after it fills in the information so there's no way someone lurking nearby can see the username and password length. There's even a help tip (which you can disable) that pops up when your browser loads a page you can register, which I thought was a great reminder when you're first learning to use the feature. Windows XP Log In Control The Aegis Bio can also help add an extra layer of security when logging in to a Windows XP computer. As with the password bank, some enrollment is required - you'll need to swipe your finger, then enter your XP user name and password the first time you use it - but after this first enrollment you can use the biometric finger swipe to log in instead of entering your password. However, unlike the password bank, the log in control doesn't really add that much extra security; you can still log in without the drive attached, and you can disconnect the drive before you log in to disable the biometric access. To be really effective, the log in security feature should disable Windows log in without the finger swipe. Testing the Aegis Bio's Transfer Speeds Security may be the paramount concern for Aegis Bio users, but transfer speed will always run a close second - who wants Apricorn's brand of security if it takes ten times as long to transfer a file? To find out just how fast the Aegis Bio can transfer a file over its Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection onto the hard disk, I ran two different drive testing utilities: Simpli Software's HD Tach (version 3.0.1.0) and SiSoftware's Sandra Lite XII.SP1 (version 2008.1.13.12). To see how well the Aegis Bio performs in different operating environments, I ran each set of tests on two different computers: a desktop with an AMD processor and a NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset, and a laptop with an Intel process and a Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset. Speed Tests with HD Tach HD Tach comes with two drive benchmarks: a quick bench that uses eight megabyte zones, and a long bench that uses 32 megabyte zones. Here are the results of the benchmark on both computers; AC indicates the laptop was running on AC power, battery that the laptop was running on battery power only: Quick Bench (Mobile Intel 945GM plugged in):  HD Tach quick bench results from the Mobile Intel 945 GM chipset, running on AC power.
 HD Tach quick bench results from the NVDIA nForce 590 chipset.
HD Tach quick bench results from the Mobile Intel 945 GM chipset, running on AC power.
 HD Tach quick bench results from the Mobile Intel 945 GM chipset, running on battery power.
 HD Tach long bench results from the NVDIA nForce 590 chipset.
 HD Tach long bench results from the Mobile Intel 945 GM chipset, running on AC power.
 HD Tach long bench results from the Mobile Intel 945 GM chipset, running on battery power.
Sandra has a removable storage benchmark that combines five individual file tests of sizes from 512 bytes to 64 megabytes for testing objects like flash drives and USB hard drives. Here are the results from both computers; plugged in indicates the laptop was running on AC power, battery that the laptop was running on battery power only: nForce 590:
If encryption and biometric security are necessary parts of your data storage solutions, the Aegis Bio makes a good case for itself to be your drive of choice; its shock-mounted case (and three year warranty) suggests durability, while the fingerprint scanner works well enough that biometric access isn't a pain to use. However, there are a couple of issues to address: first, the drive's short connection cable is an irritant, especially when dealing with desktops; Apricorn should increase the cable length, and expand the size of the case to add a retractable cable management system. Second, the drive's cost is higher than competing options, but doesn't include options (like a robust backup software package) that would justify the higher cost. By Eric Hanson, Contributing Editor |
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